The discussion forums that will be conducted starting on this coming June 2 to discuss the reduction of the weekly working hours from 48 to 40 hours must include topics such as: payment by the hour and hiring by the hour which, while permitted by the Federal Labor Law, are not very flexible, in the opinion of specialists.
Interviewed separately, Óscar de la Vega, partner at D&M Abogados, explained that while the reduction in the number of working hours is a global trend, certain considerations must be taken into account in the case of Mexico in order to minimize the impact on the employers.
“Companies that work 48 hours, companies belonging to the automotive sector, that maquila industry, miners, the metallurgical industry will have to extend their working hours with overtime, which is extremely expensive, the first nine hours are double [pay] and after that it is triple [pay]; or the other option is to hire additional staff, which in itself has a high cost”, De la Vega pointed out.
Therefore, he explained, it is essential that hiring by the hour be brought into the discussion table as, while it does exist in the LFT, in Article 183, it is also true that it is not very flexible when it comes to establishing the salary, as it says that if you hire a person for two or three hours, the full amount of the workday must be paid.
“Reviewing and analyzing the possibility of making hourly contracts more flexible will undoubtedly contribute to the establishment of a gradual reduction of working hours.”
For his part, Jorge Sales Boyoli, partner at the Sales Boyoli Firm, explained that this is the time for the employer sector to be “very creative” in making proposals that allow the best progress in the discussion of the reform, which has been going on for over two years.
“Companies, of course, will suffer an economic impact with this reduction. There are companies that can make significant investments in technology in order to employ fewer people. And when we say technology, we are usually thinking about large manufacturing companies, but there are many companies in the service sector that are considering investing in technology”, he said.
Likewise, Boyoli considered that “there is another group of people who are considering passing this cost on to the final consumer in their products.”
Others, he added, are thinking of reducing their earnings, lowering their profits to be able to maintain prices and avoid laying off people and “there is a fourth group of people that are seeking a mix of the options above.”
Added to the foregoing, he pointed out, we have the fact “that the business sector could say that if the working day is increased, the price of overtime should be reduced.”
